Schizophrenia – Insight, Depression: A Correlation Study

BACKGROUND: Schizophrenia is one of the severe forms of mental illness which demands enormous personal and economical costs. Recent years have attracted considerable interest in the dual problem of depression in schizophrenia and its relation to insight. Most clinicians believe that poor insight in patients with schizophrenia, though problematic for treatment adherence, may be protective with respect to suicide. The assumption is that patients who do not believe that they are ill are less likely to be suicidal. Alternatively, those patients with schizophrenia who recognize and acknowledge the illness will be more of a suicidal nature. AIM OF THE STUDY: The aim of the study is to find out the correlation between insight and depression in schizophrenic population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study is a cross-sectional, single-centred, correlation study done in a total of 60 subjects. Inclusion Criteria - Subjects between 20-60 years, who were diagnosed to have schizophrenia as per International clasification of diseases-10 and who have given written consent to participate in the study. Exclusion Criteria - Subjects who have other diagnosis such as mood disorder, schizoaffective disorder, mental retardation, epilepsy or detectable organic disease and co morbid substance abuse are excluded from the study. Schizophrenics who have acute exacerbation are also excluded. Instruments - For insight assessment, schedule for assessment of insight, a three item rating scale, is used. For depressive symptoms assessment a nine item rating scale, Calgary depression rating scale, is administrated. RESULTS: Insight and depression are strongly correlated in schizophrenic population with a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.758. The correlation between insight and depression is high in subjects with less duration of illness. CONCLUSION: Better insight was significantly correlated with lower mood. In addition, it suggests that poor insight may protect against depression in the early stages of recovery from schizophrenia. The correlation between insight and depression is high in subjects with less duration of illness.